Sarah Versus the Princess Bride
by MySoapBox
Summary: Sequel to Timewalker05's oneshot Chuck Versus the Princess Bride. Watching the movie The Princess Bride leads Sarah to make some changes in her life. Charah fluff. Oneshot.


_This is a sequel to __**TimeWalker05**__'s famous oneshot __Chuck Versus The Princess Bride__. I know this is a bit irregular but I've written this without his permission or knowledge. I hope he doesn't mind. And I hope that he has a very happy birthday._

_What? You haven't read TW's cute little oneshot? Well, what are you waiting for? Go read it and then come back here. You'll be glad you did._

_This takes place sometime in the middle of season two. Oh, and you'll have to be familiar with the movie The Princess Bride too._

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**Sarah Versus The Princess Bride**

**By MySoapBox**

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Earlier that day, Chuck and Sarah had moved into their new apartment, located just a few doors down from Ellie. Everyone had helped them move and afterward they celebrated with a 'Bartowski Movie Night'. Chuck had insisted that they watch _The Princess Bride_ because Sarah had never seen it and Chuck couldn't have her missing out on 'one of the most perfect movies ever'.

As the ending credits rolled, Sarah untangled herself from Chuck's embrace. It was way too comfortable in his arms. She had to escape the situation, the cuddling, the romantic movie and _him_, before she began to lose her resolve. She stood, stretched and reached out her hand to Chuck, insisting that they needed to go.

Chuck immediately felt the loss when Sarah left his side. It was so easy to forget that an evening like this was just 'cover' to her. It all felt real to him. When she helped him up and they turned to go he whispered three words. He wasn't sure why he said them, it just felt like the right thing to say to express how he felt. Luckily he said them softly enough that she would never hear.

An average person would have missed what he said all together, but not Sarah. Her spy training helped her notice things that most people didn't. So with her keen ears, Sarah heard what Chuck had murmured in his soft baritone as the walked for the door: "As you wish."

The meaning of the words was not lost on her. She knew very well that when he said those words he was really telling her how he felt about her. He had told her a hundred times in a hundred different ways over the past year. And while Sarah had pretended to be oblivious to the many times his eyes or actions had confessed his true feelings, she secretly noticed every one. She was a CIA agent, but she was also a woman, and a woman notices.

When they returned to their new apartment, they stood there looking at each other, neither one knowing quite what to do.

Chuck jammed his hands down in his pockets."Well, I guess it's time for bed," he said.

Sarah cleared her throat. "I guess so."

"Um…there's two bedrooms but we just made up the one bed." Chuck said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, we have to have one bedroom…"

"For the cover," Chuck finished. "Yeah, I get that but no one else is here now."

"We've always shared a bed for other sleepovers," Sarah said.

"Yeah…but now that we are living together, things are a little different. This is more… permanent."

Sarah thought of being curled up in his arms night after night and then pushed away the thought. That could be dangerous. Very dangerous. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I could take the guest bedroom," she offered.

The thought of Sarah alone in the next room surrounded by piles of unpacked boxes seemed almost criminal, especially when she could be curled up in his arms night after night. On the other hand, it would be murder being so close to her all the time, knowing that she didn't feel the same way. "No, I'll take the guest bedroom. You can take the big bed," he said.

"Most of the stuff in the bedroom is yours, the computer, the posters," she said_. It will be hard enough sleeping knowing you are right next door, let alone being surrounded by all your stuff_, she thought.

"No really, Sarah. You should take the big bed." _It will be hard enough sleeping knowing you are right next door, let alone sleeping in a large empty bed thinking of how I want you to share it,_ he thought.

"Chuck." Her voice was insistent. "I feel bad enough forcing you from your home to live here with me. Just take the bedroom." She was giving him one of those agent looks.

"Oh, okay," he said, backing down. "But I'm going to help you make up the guest bed."

"Fine," Sarah said.

As they found the box with the extra sheets and started to make the bed, she secretly wished that she had pushed a little harder to share the big bed. She could have insisted on it to maintain the cover. She inwardly groaned at the thought, was she really that manipulative?

After fixing the extra bed and grabbing an extra blanket for Sarah, Chuck said goodnight. As he headed back to the big bedroom alone, he secretly wished that he had offered again to share the big bed. He could have said that it made him feel safer having her near to protect him. He rolled his eyes at the thought, was he really that desperate?

Sarah tossed and turned in the little guest bed surrounded by boxes; she couldn't get the thought of Chuck out of her mind. Separate sleeping arrangements were best, she told herself. She wouldn't want to get too comfortable sleeping next to him, enveloped in his warmth. That would just compromise her even more than she had already been compromised and make things more complicated.

Chuck lay awake staring into the darkness of their newly decorated room. _Their _room. Suddenly it felt very wrong for him to be there alone. _But she doesn't want the same thing you want,_ he reminded himself. She would be sleeping in the bed only because it was her job, not because she cared about him in the same way that he cared about her. If she did, she wouldn't have been so quick to agree to the separate sleeping arrangements. Sarah was right, sleeping apart is best; it makes things much less complicated.

Chuck rolled to his side and drifted off to sleep.

Sarah punched her pillow a few times to fluff it up, and wiggled in, trying to get comfortable. The knives she always kept there bulged an uncomfortable lump. Chuck was her asset and it was her duty to protect him. Nothing could get in the way of that. Her responsibility to him as his handler must be paramount.

Turning these thoughts over and over in her mind, she drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Sarah dreamed.

She was standing at the entrance of a beautiful castle. She was wearing an elegant golden gown with gold-embroidered flowers and birds. A crown adorned her head.

She looked out and saw that the courtyard was full of people. She saw Morgan and Ellie and Devon, Casey, Bryce and Carina, Director Graham, her father, and an assortment of other people she knew, many of whom were long gone from her life.

As she stepped out among the throng, the people parted, opening a pathway before her. Trumpets sounded, all eyes fell upon her and ever knee bowed as she walked. Sarah looked around in wonder.

And then she heard a voice, one wretched, grizzly voice shouting out over the crowd, "Boo! Boo! Boo!"

Sarah looked toward the sound and saw an old woman standing at the edge of the multitude. Sarah moved closer to see her, but the old woman's face was hidden by rags. "Why do you do this?" Sarah asked her.

The old woman raised her arms and spoke loud enough for all to hear. "Because you had love in your hands and you gave it up," the old woman said.

"But they will kill Chuck if I can't protect him," Sarah argued.

"Your true love lives and you turn him away." The old woman turned to the crowd, to Ellie and Bryce, to Jack and all the others. "True Love saved her countless times, and she treated it like garbage. And that's what she is, the Queen of Refuse! So bow down to her if you want, bow to her!"

The old woman started to walk towards Sarah as she spoke, one long bony finger extended in accusation. "Bow to the Queen of Slime, the Queen of Filth, the Queen of Putrescence. Boo. Boo. Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo! Boo! Boo!"

With her last words the old woman, now so close, turned her face up to meet Sarah's. Sarah gasped. The old woman's eyes were such a familiar shade of blue. Her nose, her mouth, she had seen them countless times in the mirror. They were all her own! And in shock and dread, Sarah realized that she was looking at herself.

Sarah awoke with a start, damp with perspiration; she struggled to steady her breathing and quiet her thumping heart.

Though she was awake, the image of her aged self still danced before her eyes. Is that what she would become if she turned Chuck away? When she was old and alone would she despise this younger version of herself because of what she let slip through her fingers?

She thought back over the past year. She had had so many opportunities to let Chuck know her true feelings. There were so many moments that never happened because she was afraid. For Sarah, the job had always come first. But in this moment the thoughts of her life as a spy did little to warm her heart or her bed.

As she stared out into the darkness, clutching her sheets tightly, she knew- regardless of what the future would bring, she didn't want to live knowing that she threw this chance away. She didn't want to become that bitter old women of her dreams.

She took a breath of courage and swung her feet off the edge of the bed. Tiptoeing to the next bedroom, with the skill of a spy, she ever so gently pushed open the door.

Sleeping uneasy, Chuck heard the quiet creak of the bedroom door and opened his eyes. He saw her silhouette in the doorway and was about to ask if something was wrong when he saw her move towards the bed. Was she tiptoeing? He felt the covers move and then her cool body snuggled in next to his. She wriggled under his arm and pulled it down around her stomach. He moved a little forward to make the total body spoon complete. He felt her relax against him and heard her sigh with contentment; he felt exactly the same way.

They were both silent for a moment and Sarah wondered if Chuck had fallen back to sleep when she heard him say tentatively, "Sarah?"

Her breath caught and she blinked into the darkness. "Yeah?"

He hesitated, and then plunged ahead. "I'd like us to share this bed from now on, if that's alright with you."

Sarah put her own hand on top of his and intertwined their fingers. "As you wish," she murmured.

_The End_

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_Many, many thanks to __**Poa**__ who betaed this chapter and who's plot advice made it so much better. Thanks Poa!_


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